Music News: Morrissey biopic casts lead actor

Sponsor

Sponsor

British actor Jack Lowden has been cast as a young Morrissey in a forthcoming biopic. The film, titled Steven (Morrissey’s first name), will focus on the Smiths frontman’s early years in Manchester, and is slated to begin filming next month. (Billboard)

SXSW scare

A crowd at SXSW was sent running in panic after shots were fired into the air in downtown Austin early Sunday morning. Police took a person into custody, and no injuries have been reported. (Billboard)

Madonna exposes teen

Madonna is facing criticism for exposing a teenage girl’s breast onstage during a Thursday concert in Brisbane, Australia. In a seemingly playful gesture, Madonna yanked on a top being worn by 17-year-old Josephine Georgiou, causing one of the girl’s breasts to be briefly exposed to everyone at the show. Georgiou says she thought it was a fun moment with Madonna and doesn’t plan to file a complaint. (Spin)

More EODM charity covers

13 new covers of Eagles of Death Metal’s “I Love You All the Time” have been released to raise funds for charity in the wake of last fall’s terrorist attacks in Paris. Among the new covers are versions by Elton John and by the Strokes‘ Fabrizio Moretti and Nick Valensi with Beck. (Rolling Stone)

New images of Cobain suicide weapon released

Seattle police have released new images of the shotgun that Nirvana frontman Kurt Cobain used to take his own life in 1994. The images are public record along with other evidence gathered by authorities at the scene of Cobain’s death; the reason for the timing of the new photos’ release remains unclear. (Billboard)

Goodbye to a country great

Singer-songwriter Steve Young has died at age 73. An important figure in the “outlaw country” movement of the 1970s, Young is best-remembered for his song “Seven Bridges Road” as well as hits he wrote for Waylon Jennings and Willie Nelson. (Rolling Stone)

Today’s Michael Jackson news

Paul McCartney has begun the process of reclaiming publishing rights for Beatles songs that were long owned by Michael Jackson as part of a publishing catalog that’s now owned by Sony. U.S. copyright law allows songwriters to recapture publishing rights for their songs after 56 years, which means that songs co-written by McCartney will begin to be eligible in 2018. McCartney has already filed notice of his intent to terminate the publishing arrangement on some of his songs as soon as they become eligible; the story is different with John Lennon, whose half of Lennon-McCartney compositions became eligible for reversion in 1990 due to the date of Lennon’s death. Sony has made a deal with Lennon’s estate that allows Sony to retain ownership of Lennon’s half of the song rights. (Billboard)

Bubbles, a story about Michael Jackson’s pet chimp, is considered one of the hottest unproduced screenplays in Hollywood. Community creator Dan Harmon, who was the executive producer of last year’s Anomalisa, now plans to turn the screenplay into a movie using stop-motion animation. (Rolling Stone)

Radiohead tickets evaporate

“I’m as f—ed off as you are,” tweeted Thom Yorke, “and only human.” The Radiohead frontman was acknowledging fans’ frustration at how quickly tickets for the band’s upcoming tour dates sold out. Yorke cautioned fans to be wary of buying tickets from resale sites, since — in an anti-scalping strategy — many of the tickets will be linked to purchasers’ names. (Billboard)

Sgt. Pepper’s with your produce?

Sainsbury’s, the second-largest grocery chain in the U.K., has announced plans to start stocking vinyl in its stores. “It is our aim to make the vinyl experience easy and pleasurable for our customers who are ready to re-engage with a format that resonates with them on an emotional level,” said Sainsbury’s Pete Selby in a statement announcing the move. Among the artists who will have albums showing up in supermarkets as of Monday are the Beatles, David Bowie, Adele, and Nick Drake. (Billboard)